Health insurers are still having better luck with keeping current individual major medical insurance customers than with attracting new applicants.
Managers of HealthCare.gov, the federal government's Affordable Care Act public exchange enrollment and account administration system, told that story in a new batch of open enrollment period activity figures.
Renewal activity during the latest was almost as high as the activity level for the comparable week in 2017. But signup activity for new ACA exchange plan coverage was down sharply.
(Related: HealthCare.gov Activity Continues to Improve)
The number of people renewing coverage fell just 0.5%, to 549,118.
The number adding new coverage sank 17%, to 224,132.
Repeat customers account for more than 70% of HealthCare.gov coverage applications.
HealthCare.gov acts as a web-based supermarket for health insurance coverage from private insurers. It serves residents of 39 states.